Rotary blowers of the type to which the present disclosure relates are referred to as “superchargers” because they effectively super charge the intake of the engine. One supercharger configuration is generally referred to as a Roots-type blower that transfers volumes of air from an inlet port to an outlet port. A Roots-type blower includes a pair of rotors which must be timed in relationship to each other, and therefore, are driven by meshed timing gears which are potentially subject to conditions such as gear rattle and bounce. Typically, a pulley and belt arrangement for a Roots blower supercharger is sized such that, at any given engine speed, the amount of air being transferred into the intake manifold is greater than the instantaneous displacement of the engine, thus increasing the air pressure within the intake manifold and increasing the power density of the engine. A conventional supercharger is generally mechanically driven by the engine, and therefore, may represent a drain on engine horsepower whenever engine “boost” may not be required and/or desired.
In some examples, superchargers such as the Roots-type blower can create unwanted noise. For example, Roots-type blower noise may be classified as either of two types. The first is solid borne noise caused by rotation of timing gears and rotor shaft bearings subjected to fluctuating loads (the firing pulses of the engine), and the second is fluid borne noise caused by fluid flow characteristics, such as rapid changes in fluid (air) velocity. The present disclosure is primarily directed toward the solid borne noise. More particularly the present disclosure can minimize the “bounce” of the timing gears during times of relatively low speed operation, when the blower rotors are not “under load”. In this regard, it is important to isolate the fluctuating input to the supercharger from the timing gears. In other examples it is desirable to account for misalignment and/or runout between the input shaft and rotor shaft.
The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.